Email marketing specialist, emedia, has released its ëRapidResearch quarterly IT security surveyí, revealing that enterprises are providing a window of opportunity for viruses to perpetuate.
Anti-virus and patch management are the first lines of defence in IT security loopholes but amazingly, 12 per cent do not update their software frequently enough leaving one month or more between updates. At the time of answering, a virus, despite all using anti-virus software, infected 5 per cent of respondents.
David Clark, Managing Director at emedia commented: ìThe battle against viruses continues to rage. Companies cannot afford to overlook the effective use of tools available. Smart policies and practices should ensure that opted-in requested communication gets through and unsolicited and potentially infected communication doesnít.î
Virus writers exploit critical vulnerabilities in commercial software, and vendors are finding it hard to ensure companies apply patches quickly enough. Thirty per cent of senior IT managers surveyed felt that the most important improvement that could be made was to keep technology up-to-date. Other areas highlighted for improvement were staff education (26 per cent) and security skills (20 per cent).
IT managers feel that security measures are hampered by the difference between financial investments, priority and needs. Seventy per cent will be spending less than 10,000 this year. Fifty four per cent felt that security was not a top priority for senior management, and only 5 per cent took the view that cost was the most negative effect on their business from a security incident.
Not surprisingly, 61 per cent think that security incidents will get worse in 2005.
Sleep walking, viruses and other IT security maladies
Emedia has released its RapidResearch quarterly IT security survey
